Estuarine-Shelf Exchange Using Landsat Images of Discharge Plumes

Authors

  • Scott P. Dinnel
  • William W. Schroeder
  • William J. Wiseman, Jr.

Keywords:

Estuarine-shelf water exchange, river discharge, estuarine exchange, estuarine discharge plume, Landsat data, plume morphology, suspended sediment transport

Abstract

Landsat satellite data can provide descriptions of discharge plume morphology, as well as estimates of estuarine-shelf suspended sediment exchange. Thirty-three images, collected over an 11-year period, of the Mobile Bay, Alabama, discharge plume were analyzed in conjunction with environmental data. Plume size was principally controlled by river discharge but modified by the tides. Suspended sediment transport estimates based on plume size suggest that the annual suspended sediment load from Mobile Bay to the adjacent shelf can be exchanged during an average five-month cold front season and an average spring flood. Wind-wave resuspension of Mobile Bay sediments during frontal passage and direct river borne suspended sediments are the two major sources of suspended sediment transported to the shelf.

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Published

1990-10-29

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 4 (1990): Journal of Coastal Research

Section

Articles

License

Authorization for personal use is granted by the Coastal Education and Research Foundation [CERF]. By submitting a manuscript, the authors agree that the copyright for their article is transferred to the publisher if the article is accepted for publication. Assignment of copyright is not required, however, from authors who work for organizations which do not permit such assignment, The copyright covers the exclusive rights to reprduce and distribute the article, inclduing reprints, photographic reproductions, microform, or any other reproductions of a similar nature, and translations.